Combing machine for textile fibres



May 4, 1948.

J. w. NASMITH 2,440,870

COMBING MACHINE vFOR TEXTILE FIBRES Filed Sept. l9, 1941 Patented May 4, 1948 .Ibli'njWilliam Nasmith',.Heat'on Mersey,

Manchester, England eiiui ppliuatiomseptember 19, 1941;1Serial No. 411,835

i-Novemberi 1-5; 1940 "1 :Section 3,' Public Law 690; August 8'; 1946 Pat-ant expires N ovemberli; 1960 InGreat Britain s -(Jlaims. 1'. .2; Inathe specification? ofrUnited-zrstatesr Letters Patent No; 2,-1453491 :granted' me there: is. describedand:claimedtiaxfnrnr.ottcombingmmachine fontextiie-fibresir Theapparatusmperatesiunda mentally in the manners well: known: incccmbing machines of: stherectilmearrtwpe; .that; is tortsay that antuft of. fibres is 'uorubed'; by :drawing it througha top'comb and-such tutu-being combed, .isd'eta'ched and pieced uprtothecend of. an already backed off for the 1311113088?' ThEifCOHlbGd ilJl-lfii', HOWCOHStitllfingIhEW-Elldflffbhe'zcOniiiHllOllsfiBSCE, is (backed oiT onzth'e nextrcombingrfor the piecing upof arfurther *ccmbedetuftgzand scz on. In'the specification referred. to, however; :the: lower -piecingroller of: ;,a :pair ofepiecing. -nol-lers'.iswreciprocated bodil-yto and-fromtheiusua-l combing; cylinder: positionvion theapurposes setifcrth. invthe specification-r and \there. are provided; forms of control for a: returned or' backed' ofi enda. Ir-rone form-, this'con-trol is '-:constituted;. byazxpair of aprons having-.-contig-.uousr plane -.-fiaces;. which faces reciprocate in synchronism::witl isthe cir cumferentialspeed: and direction ofzrotation of the:lower-rpiecingi1noller-- as :thewlatterrotates to deliverandthenxtake: up the returned or backed 011*: end ofrfieece in ithe :piecingoperationo -=:See Figures 6 and- =7 of the drawings ofthe speeification, and the relevant description.

Both? aprons rare; in: the-apparatus being referred to, quite separate from the pair of piecing rollers, eXcept as. toa tlieirrcoopr'ative function therewith, and. as a result there is a considerable free space between the nip o'fltherollers. and the nip of the aprons at the point where a returned end enters betwe'en the' faces of the latter. Whilst the apparatus works..we1l, and is iound, dueto theform of control of thereturned end of fleece, very suitable fonlong .fibres suchasiwool, the necessity of presentingthe: free returned end of fleece to this free space, and causing it to cross the same before it reaches the control aprons, is liable to result in some straggling of the end fibres of the fleece. This is particularly noticeable where the combing of wool fibres is in question, as, due to friction set up as the fibres are pulled through the top comb together, a static electric charge is generated in each individual fibre, and these as a result feebly but definitely repel each other, with disturbance of the smooth parallelism of the said fibres as components of the fleece. The static charge of each fibre is at this point at its maximum in the free space, Where in addition they are unsupported.

One object of the present invention is to proof the -freespace :abovementioned will be reduced to the minimum: thus :ensuring: an earlier grip by that-aprons: upon the" end: flbresand eliminating their: straggling. due to the .static-electric charge as pointed 'out, or to anyother cause. "To. this end" the present invention is characterised in that the: apron pair is constituted by anrupper apron and alower'apnon, of which, one,ithe upper apron, passes around the lowerpiecing roller. and takes partbodily in thesliding. movement to andvfrom thec'combingzcylinder positiom. andyth'at-the operative upper face of. the lower apron is extended and contracted as to cfiective length in relation tcthe contiguous face of the upper apron whilst preserving uniformity of co-operativemovement of the contiguous apron faces. As aresult of thiscombinationthereis,at the appropriate time, a space left upon the: end of theface ofthelower apron: below theniptpoint of the. piecing rollers lie-receive directly the: returned end, of fibre fleece, this end being then taken: immediately intd'the nip: of-the aprcnfaces from; the nip ofcthe piecing rollers.

1 Another. object. of. the present invention is to provide means forensuring. thatthe static electric charges of the fibre's'shallbe dissipatedibefore the'continuouslength of combed fleece is released to be formed as'usualinto a .sliven. This iseffec'te'd: by forming. the upper face of :the. upper apron .oiisuiiicient length to: allow of. the. returned end of fleece lying: thereupon. with. a series of pi'ecedt. up fibre tufts constituting: successively formed ends of the same, so that the static; electric: charges are entirely dissipated fromrthe. fibres before the fleece leaves the. .face. of the apron as a result of the successive: reciprocations of the latter The invention, with a. convenient and practical arrangement andixmiethod: of operation. of the apronspwillxnow: be described fori-a .full: understanding of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings. In these drawings, Figure 1 is a cross section through the piecing and other rollers and through the pair of aprons at the end of the tuft detaching period; and Figure 2 is a similar view of the parts in their position when the return of the end of fleece is about to begin.

Referring first to Figure 1, the roller l is mounted in fixed but adjustable bearings of known character and the endless apron L, which is of soft leather, passes around such roller and is carried. in a direction as horizontal as possible around the roller 2 and the tension or compensating roller 3. Roller 2 is coarsely fluted as shown.

reciprocatory movement. The lower piecing roller P is mounted in bearings to which is imparted a sliding motion-see Figure 1 of the drawings of specification 2,145,491 and the bearings of the roller 4 are also conveniently mounted in the same slide mechanism. Sliding movement from the position of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 to that of Figure 2 is thus imparted to the bearings of roller 1?, as also in this case to the bearings of roller 4, and the bearings of roller 2, also slidably mounted, participate in this movement. The tension roller 3 is carried in bearings mounted on lever B which is constantly under the influence of the downward pull of a tension spring at 5 attached thereto, so that the apron L is kept constantly taut. A delivery roller 8 may be used to direct the fleece a: as it leaves the apron L at T, to be condensed into a sliver in known manner. S indicates the combing cylinder; 35 the cylinder cover as in specification No. 2,145,- 491 and D the detaching roller. A supporting tension roller for the upper length of apron L is indicated at I.

In Figure 1 the apparatus is shown at the end of the fibre tuft detaching period, and the tail of this tuft is taken into the nip of the rollers P and P, projecting therefrom as shown at T to a length about equal to half the diameter of the roller. This is a very short free end, and the fibres are stiff enough to resist the effect of the static electric charge upon the fibres.

In Figure 2 the apparatus is shown in the position when the rollers are about to reverse to deliver the end of the fleece for piecing. The driving roller 4 and the roller P, the former entraining the roller 2, have moved away from the cylinder S and its cover 35, and the falling upper piecing roller P has dropped behind the roller P in the'manner described in the specification No. 2,145,491, so that in this construction it nearly touches the lower endless apron L. The piecing rollers and the faces of the aprons then begin to move in the direction of the arrows Figure 2, and it will be seen that the distance from the nip of the rollers P and P to the apron L is very short, so that the tips of the fibres T are immediately carried forward between the aprons L and L without being obliged to traverse any space of an extent sufficient to allow them to disperse, due to their electric charges, as a motion and then the reverse, to give this desired result of undesired lengthening of the free fibre and of the fleece between the nip of the rollers P and P, and their engagement by the aprons.

The apparatus then returns to the position of Figure 1, ready for the next detaching and piecing operation. The fleece, on issuing from the nip of the roller P and the contiguous faces of the aprons L and L', is supported upon the upper face of the upper apron L, and adheres thereto during several successive detachings and piecings, until it reaches the discharge point at roller 8. Thus, between the piecing rollers and the roller 8 there are at all times a succession of superposed detached fibre tufts, each constituting in its turn the end of the fleece, and the static electric charges on the fibres have time 'to dissipate before the said fleece leaves the apron to be formed and compressed into a sliver.

llclaim:

1. In acombing machine for textile fibres, upper and lower piecing rollers reciprocating around their respective axes and the lower roller being also bodily reciprocatable, an endless upper apron passing around the lower piecing roller and thus having lineal and bodily movement imparted thereto, a further apron having a face forming an apron nip with a face of the upper apron, and means for extending and contracting the efiective length of such lower apron facein synchronism with the movements of the contiguous face of the upper apron.v v

2. In a combing machine for textile fibres, upper and lower piecing rollers reciprocating around their respective axes and the lower r'oller being also bodily reciprocatable, a rotatable -and bodily movable carrier roller, an endless apron supported by such roller and by the lower piecing roller, a further endless apron having a'face which forms a nip with a face upon the first apron to follow lineally and bodily the lineal and bodily movements of the said first apron, and a compensation tensioning roller within the further endless apron.

'3. In a combing machine as claimed in claim 1, an endless upper apron having an upper surface of sufiicient length to accommodate 'a'length of fibre fleece consisting of successively pieced up combed fibre tufts, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

JOHN WILLIAMNASMITHL REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: I

FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Apr. 8,1931 

